This morning BAFTA have announced their nominess for the 2014 film awards, and we are ecstatic that our films The Act of Killing and Blackfish have both been nominated for Best Documentary. The Act of Killing has also been nominated for Film Not in the English Language.
This year BAFTA chose to nominated 5 documentaries rather than 3 as in previous years. The full list of nominated films are:
The Act of Killing
The Armstrong Lie
Blackfish
Tim's Vermeer
We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks
The EE British Academy Film Awards will take place on Sunday 16 February 2014
The Act of Killing
In this chilling and inventive documentary, executive produced by Werner Herzog, Errol Morris and André Singer, the unrepentant former members of Indonesian death squads are challenged to re-enact some of their many murders in the style of the American movies they love. In the 1960’s Anwar Congo was a leader in Indonesia’s pro-regime paramilitary the Pancasila Youth who, along with his band of dedicated followers, was amongst those who participated in the murder and torture more than a million alleged Communists, ethnic Chinese and intellectuals. Proud of their deeds and completely unpunished, Anwar and his pals are delighted when the film’s director ask them to re-enact these murders for their documentary – in any genre they desire. Initially Anwar and his friends enthusiastically take up the challenge using hired actors, making elaborate sets and costumes and even using pyrotechnic, but eventually as the movie violence is played out and reconstructed, Anwar finally begins to feel unease and remorse.
For more information visit www.TheActofKilling.co.uk
Blackfish
Blackfish tells the story of Tilikum, a performing killer whale that killed several people while in captivity. Along the way, director-producer Gabriela Cowperthwaite compiles shocking footage and emotional interviews to explore the creature’s extraordinary nature, the species’ cruel treatment in captivity, the lives and losses of the trainers and the pressures brought to bear by the multi-billion dollar sea-park industry. This emotionally wrenching, tautly structured story challenges us to consider our relationship to nature and reveals how little we humans have learned from these highly intelligent and enormously sentient fellow mammals.
For more information on the film, visit blackfishmovie.com